Interlude: The Return of the Royal Knights
by David Ishihara
Summary: After the Inheritance War has ended, the Royal Knights stop by an old lab to complete the unfinished modifications before finally heading back home to the Digital World.


The Royal Knights arrived at a lab where they saw pods scattered across a particular room.

"Hmm… These pods look very peculiar." Kentaurosmon said.

"By head count, there are 13 pods here. They seem to be for us." Craniamon said.

"So… This is where Lepoint revived us. If it weren't for Theodore, he would probably still be here right now." Gallantmon said.

"He's not dead, Gallantmon. He was framed and falsely arrested." Leopardmon said. "Though, I somehow feel that we are partially to blame."

"That's right. Theodore sent Snake Charmer to brainwash us and sent us to Tokyo, twisting us into fighting amongst ourselves." Jesmon said.

"Thankfully, though, Sachiko, David and everyone else were able to set things right." Crusadermon said.

"Yes. If it weren't for them, some of us would've been dead right now." Leopardmon said.

"Yes, and Jexi clearly wouldn't be happy about that, especially after the way we left them before." Dynasmon said.

"A lot of things have happened since then. I never imagined that we would end up journeying alongside them again." Omnimon said.

"Though under someone else's leadership, but David has a good heart. Honestly, if it weren't for him and Sachiko, I don't know how I would cope with losing all of you." Alphamon said.

"Well, you already did lose one of your own." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Ah, of course. We haven't forgotten about you, Ulforce. When our UlforceVeedramon was caught in the rift, David had to find an UlforceVeedramon from another dimension to take his place." Leopardmon said.

Magnamon looked down in sorrow at this.

"Don't worry about it so much, Magnamon. He's in good hands with Rina." Kentaurosmon said.

"I know, but… We had finally reunited with him in the Ylisse redux. But he was corrupted by ShadeMan. Even worse, David let ShadeMan get away." Magnamon said.

"That may be true, but to be fair, no one knew that ShadeMan had an ability like that. You can't blame David for making that kind of judgment call." Leopardmon said.

"Besides, it just means that we'll get him next time." Dynasmon said.

"I hope so…" Magnamon said.

"But Leopardmon, oh you shined brighter than any one else did when we were squared against Odin." Dynasmon said.

"Oh, it wasn't really anything noteworthy." Leopardmon said.

"Don't be so humble about it, Leopardmon. You have made the biggest contribution out of everyone in that war. Heck, you even held the Olympian Gods back yourself at one point. Not a lot of strategists throughout history have been able to make a stand like that." Omnimon said.

"We would say that it was the biggest moment you had since this group was even forged. You should give yourself some credit." Examon said.

"Oh come now, you know that he doesn't do that kind of stuff for the attention." Gankoomon said.

"That's right. It's because I care very deeply for all of you… I couldn't stand the thought of you all dying." Leopardmon said.

"Aw~ I knew that there really is a heart under all that armor~" Crusadermon said.

"S-shut it, Crusadermon! You know I don't express it very openly." Leopardmon said.

"Relax, Leops. You don't have to be so stiff about everything." Crusadermon said.

"Hahaha… I missed the kind of banter we used to have together." Alphamon said.

Leopardmon looked over at the computer screen. "It's as I thought. Our modifications weren't finished. Gankoomon and Examon still hadn't been given their X-Antibody forms yet."

"Really? Well, then what say give this thing a whirl then." Examon said.

"Hold on, Examon. You know how King Drasil feels about X-Antibody Digimon." Alphamon said.

"Well, yeah. We do, but everyone else has them already. It wouldn't be right if we were left out." Examon said.

"Besides, we still have a place with Jexi, David and the whole crew after the tournament anyway, so there's no need to worry about things going south with the king." Gankoomon said.

"Hmm… I guess you have a bit of a point there. But with Lepoint here in the lab, who's going to be the one to give you your X-Antibodies?" Magnamon asked.

"I'll do it. It only seems right." Alphamon said. He started a countdown as everyone got into their pods. When the time hits 0, the pods closed automatically. After a few minutes, the modifications were complete and the pods opened again.

"Hoo-wee! I've never felt better in my life!" Examon said.

"We should head back home to the Digital World to test out these new forms of ours." Gankoomon said.

"Yes. We have some training to do, anyway." Leopardmon said as Alphamon opened a portal to the Digital World.

"The Digital World. It's been a long time, but… We're finally home." Alphamon said.

"It feels nice to be back after so long. Hopefully, King Drasil won't mind a few...changes with us." Crusadermon said.

"I'm sure he won't. I mean, I doubt anything will faze him at this point." Alphamon said.


End file.
